The Baltimore Ravens seem to have a solution to last year’s catastrophic offensive guard situation. They’ve gone from Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees to Vega Ioane and John Simpson. That should prove to be a monstrous improvement on the starting line.
Vorhees is back in 2026, though. Thankfully, it’s only in a backup role, but in preseason, he’s shown persistent issues. An inability to maintain blocks and sloppy footwork have led to questions about whether he’s even worth a roster spot.
In the eyes of Sports Illustrated’s Rafael Zamorano, Baltimore could use a proven backup in the guard room. With John Simpson being a shaky starter, he believes the solution to that potential problem might be Will Hernandez. Zamorano wrote:
“Yes, [Hernandez’s] coming off two straight seasons on IR, but having a guy with 98 NFL starts at guard on the bench just in case sounds like good insurance. Especially given how shallow depth is in the interior of Baltimore’s offensive line after Pinter’s injury.”
That’d directly impact Vorhees’ chances to make the 53-man roster. In fact, such a move would probably push him out of Charm City.
And it might be a smart decision.
Baltimore Ravens might want to search for a better backup than Andrew Vorhees
The Ravens gave John Simpson a three-year, $30 million contract. There’s almost no possible way that they’ll bench him, even if he’s not playing well. However, if one of their starting guards gets injured, it might be smarter to have another player not named Vorhees ready to take snaps.
Yes, Emery Jones Jr. would likely be equipped to sub in for Baltimore in such a scenario. It seems like Baltimore wants him in a Swiss Army Knife kind of role, though, and even he's struggled at times this preseason.
They could also use a better veteran than Vorhees. He’s made it abundantly clear that he’s just not fit to play in the NFL; maybe they’d be wise to turn to the free agent market for a guy like Will Hernandez?
As Zamorano mentioned, Hernandez has dealt with injury troubles over the last two years. Between an ACL tear in 2024 and a hip injury in 2025, Hernandez only netted 12 starts during that stretch.
Still, Hernandez has stuck around in the NFL for a reason. He was poor in 2025, but rushed back from an ACL tear and played within an utterly horrific offensive line in Arizona. Before that, he consistently posted mid-to-upper 60 overall grades, per Pro Football Focus.
That’s way better than Vorhees. Last year, Vorhees registered a 54.6 overall grade, per Pro Football Focus, which was 60th among 81 qualifying guards.
The Ravens can do way better than that, and they wouldn’t have to fork over too much money to go from Vorhees to Hernandez. Spotrac projects Hernandez's next contract to be worth one-year, $2 million.
It’s worth noting that Baltimore recently reworked Vorhees’ contract, and the USC product signed a fully guaranteed one-year, $1.7 million deal. Signing Hernandez and cutting Vorhees could seem like a poor financial decision, as the Ravens would have to eat that money.
Regardless, whichever way Baltimore opts to construct their offensive line on the 53-man roster, they can’t put Vorhees in a position where he might have to contribute. He needs to be the fourth guard in that room.
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